Summerville Homeowners Insurance

People are moving into the city in droves, with its population booming to nearly 60,000. One of the reasons for the influx is the more affordable housing prices, which are a tremendous perk for homeowners looking for the best of South Carolina.

Since the town sits so close to the coast, which is prone to hurricanes, homeowners insurance in Summerville, South Carolina is much higher than the state’s average — although it’s a bit cheaper than what Charleston residents will pay.

The average cost of homeowners insurance in Summerville is about $2,149 for a $200,000 house and $3,752 for a $350,000 house. These numbers are based on the premiums submitted to the South Carolina Department of Insurance by each of the top insurers in the town.

Every year, insurers that write more than $1 million in premiums are required to submit sample rates to the SC DOI. We compiled all those numbers into a huge spreadsheet, dissected them, averaged them out and then compiled a presentation for you.

By doing so, we’re helping bring a transparent perspective as to what you can expect to pay. Because we’re all about helping you find affordable and adequate homeowners insurance in South Carolina. Let’s take a look at the average premiums.

The rates in this article are from the South Carolina Department of Insurance​. They reflect actual prices from insurers that write at least $1 million in premiums in the state. However, they don’t reflect policy discounts or other variations in price that may apply to your particular policy.

As you can see from the numbers breakdown above, the most affordable homeowners insurance policies for a $200,000 house come from Travelers, Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) and State Farm.

We partner with Travelers, UPCIC and many of the top insurance companies in Summerville, South Carolina. So we can get you a quote from them in minutes. Partnering with the big (and smaller) names in the insurance game also allows us to compare rates and policies instantly, which means you’ll get the best policy at the best rate.

The premiums outlined in this article are averages, so you could potentially pay less or more, depending on a variety of factors. Some of the most important factors to consider are the age of your home and your home’s construction type.

The older a home, the more susceptible it becomes to damage from a severe-weather storm like a hurricane or tornado. Your home’s construction type, frame or masonry, also plays a big role in the average cost of premiums.

Frame houses are crafted from wood, while masonry houses are crafted from either concrete or brick. As you can probably imagine, masonry homes typically hold up better to natural disasters than their frame counterparts. Let’s take a deep dive into the numbers.

The average premium of $3,752 per year for a $350,000 house is just that: an average. When we break down the numbers even further, we see that homeowners in the sweet spots can pay significantly less.

Getting a policy from Travelers, UPCIC and State Farm means you’ll likely pay less than the state’s average, especially when you consider these averages were calculated utilizing homeowners with average credit. If you have great credit, you’re more likely to pay less than the city average.

While Foremost comes in with some of the highest premiums in the city, that doesn’t mean you’ll pay that much. We partner with Foremost, and we’ve seen premiums for this area at a much lower rate for homeowners who haven’t filed a home insurance claim, have great credit and are cognizant about their coverage amounts. Let’s take a deeper dive into the numbers.

Home insurance in Summerville, South Carolina covers much more than just your house. It’s also responsible for protecting your personal belongings, property and wallet from a multitude of different perils.

The most commonly covered perils are things like wind damage, water damage, house fires and vandalism or theft. But the perils your policy covers you from depend entirely on the type of homeowners insurance policy you have.

An HO-1 is the most basic homeowners policy, which covers homeowners from 10 perils. An HO-3 is the most common policy and it covers homeowners from 16 perils. But the list goes on from there, ending with an HO-5, which is widely considered to be the most extensive policy.

Dwelling: Dwelling coverage protects the actual structure of your home and the things attached and considered vital to it. These are things like the major systems in your home (HVAC, electrical and plumbing). Coverage also extends to things like your home’s roof, the windows, doors, flooring, hot water heater.

It’s important that your home’s dwelling coverage matches, at the very least, your home’s value. So houses worth $350,000 should have at least $350,000 worth of coverage. However, since housing prices increase throughout the year, it’s recommended to insure your home for 3% over the value.

Other Structures: Other structures coverage is there to protect the structures on your property that aren’t directly connected to your house. These are things like fences, detached garages and sheds.

Standard policies usually come equipped with other structures coverage that’s 10% of your dwelling coverage. That means homeowners with a $350,000 house may have up to $35,000 in coverage per claim filed.

Personal Property: Personal property coverage applies to all your personal belongings like furniture, electronics, lawnmowers, clothing, jewelry and collectibles.

However, jewelry, collectibles and other abstract items or high-value items need to be scheduled onto your policy to ensure they’re protected for their full amount.

Loss of Use: Loss of use coverage protects your finances if your home is damaged or destroyed and you’re forced to temporarily move out while it’s being repaired or rebuilt. It’s geared to reimburse you for additional living expenses you incur in that scenario.

Things like a rental home of equivalent value, storage fees and pet boarding are some of the most common things covered.

Liability: Liability coverage is designed to help cover events that are primarily out of your hands, and that you’re found liable for. It’s there to help cover medical bills and legal fees if someone is injured on your property, dog bites that occur on or off your property or damage you accidentally cause to another home.

Coverage typically comes standard at $100,000 or $250,000 per claim. You get to choose your coverage amounts, usually up to $500,000 or $1 million. High-net-worth individuals are encouraged to purchase supplementary umbrella coverage to extend their maximums beyond the $500,000 or $1 million mark.

Medical Payments: Medical payments to others coverage is similar to liability, but it doesn’t matter who’s at fault. It’s designed to help pay for minor medical expenses if someone is injured on your property. However, it may be a better idea to use health insurance instead. That way you minimize the number of home insurance claims you file.

Many factors are at play when calculating the average cost of homeowners insurance in Summerville, South Carolina. However, the most common factors that go into rate calculations are the following:

Getting a home insurance quote in Summerville, South Carolina is quick and easy when you use Clovered’s online quoting tool. All you need to do is answer a few questions about your house and living situation. Then our proprietary tool will compare policies and rates and pick the best one for you so you can go back to the funner things in life.

We’re always here to help. If you’d rather speak to a licensed agent on the phone, just call 833-255-4117 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Or you can email us anytime at agent@clovered.com.

Flood damage isn’t covered by homeowners insurance, so you’ll need a separate flood insurance policy to protect your home, belongings and finances from the devastating effects of flooding.

Since Summerville is in the lowland South Carolina country teeming with water, including the Ashley River and Dorchester Creek, most of the city sits in an A-designated flood zone. That means nearly every home in Summerville is expected to experience at least one flooding event in the life of a 30-year mortgage.

With the average flood claim resulting in $25,000 worth of losses, it’s extremely wise to invest in flood insurance. Plus, it costs a fraction of the price of homeowners insurance and may only cost a few hundred dollars per year.